Welcome to my SANCTUARY!
Years ago, a dear friend gave me this sign to remind me that I could live a life of peace if I simply took myself there. SANCTUARY is a place of refuge or safety, haven, shelter, hideaway, port in a storm.
Indeed, my friend knew that I needed to be reminded of the SANCTUARY we have in our relationship with God. I remember that because, long ago, I determined that my home would be a SANCTUARY no matter what is going on inside of it.
I pulled that sign out from behind my dresser to remind me of my sanctuary at home. I recommend that your home be your sanctuary, too! I sense that this word is for some of my friends who are living in chaos, fear, pain and concerns right now. Today!
So how do we find that place of peace and the place to escape from the everyday stressors of life – an escape from busyness and chaos? That place where we find peace in our hearts and souls when with everything in us, wants to run for our lives.
I loved watching my daughter play basketball from grade school to high school. I loved having “home court advantage” over the visiting team. The home team fans were out in droves and the team spirit elevated our team’s thinking AND their game. Home court advantage applies to the SANCTUARY that our home becomes as a haven of peace, love, and rest when we treat it that way. It becomes our “home court advantage”.
The politics. The news. The weather. The hate. The worry. I turn the news on and then I turn it off quickly. It reminds me why I rarely, if ever, watch those live news broadcasts anymore. I don’t have the stomach OR heart for it all.
The combative nature of people these days wears on my spirit. I don’t quite know what to make of it all, but as I sit down to write loving, comforting words for myself and for my readers, God places my attention on a little sign that says, “SANCTUARY” with a scripture reference of Mark 6:31 “Come away to a secret place and rest for while” that reels me back in to what matters most.
I don’t know what your world looks like today. You may have young children jumping off the furniture and climbing in your pantry. Their sibling rivalry is at peak performance. Your spouse may be overloaded with worries and care. Your to-do list is way too long to stop in at the SANCTUARY.
I know that atmosphere. It is familiar to me. But what became the most familiar to me and the priority in my home is making God — my deepest source of meaning, unconditional love and peace.
It can be found — even in small increments of time. I promise. When our priority is going to the SANCTUARY at some point of our day, we will find the presence of a holy, loving, awe-inspiring God. He is available, present, and more life-giving and peace-giving than everything else combined.
I offer you a glance at my sign. SANCTUARY. That lovely, reassuring place of safety. Relief from all the ugliness out there. A break from it all.
What if SANCTUARY looked like nothing more complicated than a hot, comforting cup of coffee, a pen in hand, a blank page beckoning, with a Bible or devotional book nearby. Going to the SANCTUARY and having moments of quiet, deep peace and rest and the assurance “It is well with my soul.”
“Come away with me and rest for a while.” (Mark 6:31)